If you’re in the stage where you are working out strong and
eating right, but you still want to take full advantage of making your muscles ‘pop’,
then try working out the same muscle groups together every week!
Start off the week working your Chest and Triceps together
on the same day. At first you may be confused as to how those two muscles work
together to give you results – but over time you will be surprised that the two
are needed together to help get through your lifting chest or tri workouts. Work them through 3
different sets of workouts with little sets in between. When I start my week,
on Mondays I choose 3 different chest workouts and 3 different tri workouts. Among
each ‘set’, it is best to build up ‘reps’ or counts for each movement you are
performing. Start off with a rep of 10 (which means a count of 10) and then add
an additional one every few weeks. I started working out doing just 10 reps but
gained the strength up to 15 counts for my current workouts. In one 45 minute
workout session I am able to work through 3 different sets with a total of 90
reps (that’s 45 per muscle group) with each set!
To break it down:
3 sets = the total of
your lifting workout for the day
1 set = two workouts
(one chest and one tricep)
1 workout = a
rotation of 3 full reps of one muscle
Full rep = a count of
10-15 times on each muscle
So, if you lost
count, that’s 10x3 = 30 (total counts per muscle) x2 = 60 reps per set!
Or if you were taking
the maximum amount of reps it would be 15x3 = 45 (total counts per muscle) x2 =
90 reps per set!
It is important to remember to let your muscles breathe by
rotating in between each full rep. After you do 10 reps on your chest, head
over to the tricep pull-down and do 10 reps on that. Keep going until you have
completed 3 full reps of each – and then onward to your next set!
Additional muscle groups that workout well together:
Back and Biceps –
with these try to rotate workouts each week so that you are targeting your
upper and lower back differently.
Legs and Shoulders
– with these try to rotate workouts each week so that you are targeting your
upper and lower legs differently.
TIP OF THE WEEK: if
you are going for size over tone, try increasing your weights and decreasing
your reps - this will help your body push through to make room for even bigger
muscles :)
For further questions about muscle groups, check out this
online article: http://www.livestrong.com/article/343688-what-body-parts-should-i-work-together-in-the-gym/
Cheers!
Meg